Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa defeated, Australia urged to push for new way

Melbourne, January
9, 2015 --The Tamil Refugee Council urges the
Australian government to use the change of leadership in Sri Lanka to push for
a resolution to the country’s most pressing issue – the long-standing
oppression and persecution of Tamils.

“The first thing the new president
must do is end the vicious military occupation , which has been used to
perpetuate genocide against the Tamil population in their traditional homelands
in the north and east of the country”, said Tamil Refugee Council (TRC)
convenor Trevor Grant.

“He also must allow the Tamils to
determine their own future, not continue to inflict upon them the genocidal
machinery of Sinhalese chauvinism.

“The military occupation must end, so
too the land theft, the destruction of Tamil temples, the disappearances of
Tamil men and boys, the murder of journalists, the rape of Tamil war widows,
and even children, by soldiers who have acted with total impunity under
Rajapaksa.

“Sadly, Sirisena’s election manifesto
says nothing about these critical issues, which is not surprising. As a former
senior Minister in Rajapaksa’s cabinet, Sirisena has been an accomplice in so
many of the repressive measures dished out to Tamils.

“As acting minister of defence, he was
also culpable in the 2009 atrocity, which saw, according to the UN, as many as
70,000 innocent Tamil civilian deliberately slaughtered by government forces.
So it’s not surprising he has said he will continue Rajapaksa’s policy of
blocking the UN from conducting its current war crimes investigation. Sirisena,
as much as Rajapaksa, stands accused of war crimes and is now more desperate than
ever for the world to forget his role in this atrocity.

“Australia, along with other nations,
can play a part in addressing all of these issues.

“Before the new president continues
down the same path as Rajapaksa, he needs to know that the international
community wants to see a change of direction, away from the repressive
militarism that has infected Sri Lankan society, particularly since the end of
the war, and destroyed the lives of millions of Tamils, Muslims and Christians.

“Up to now, Australia, under both
Labor and Coalition governments, has backed Rajapaksa and his cabal of war
criminals in order to bring an end to the flow of Tamil asylum seekers to our
shores.

“The two governments struck an
agreement in which Tamils have been involuntarily returned to persecution, in
defiance of international law. As many as 1500 have been sent back to face
imprisonment and, often torture.

“It’s not just illegal but, also, short-sighted.
If Tamils in Sri Lanka continue to be rounded up in white vans and taken off to
torture chambers, the human survival instinct will ensure they continue to flee
in the future.

“The Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott,
could start by reversing Australia’s “whatever it-takes-to-stop-the-boats”
foreign policy, which included the shameful (unsuccessful) decision to block
the current UN war crimes investigation – a move which saw Australia reject its
traditional allies, such as the US, UK and Canada and side with such noted human
rights’ abusers as China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

“Abbott also needs to stop condoning
Sri Lankan torture, as he did at CHOGM in Colombo in 2013, and see the change
in leadership as a chance to help re-direct policies away from military-led
repression to a new way that allows Tamils, in particular, to live the way they
decide, and in peace and harmony.

“If Australia really wants to stop
Tamils fleeing in the long term, then the root cause must be addressed, which
is the persecution. We can only hope that this forms part of the discussion in
Abbott’s congratulatory phone call to Sirisena.”

For further
information contact Tamil Refugee Council on +61 400 597 351.